To Save a Rogue VI
by C. D. Lamarr
Summary: Chapter VI
1. Chapter 1

Zaaap

To Save a Rogue

By:

C.D. Lamarr

Chapter VI

_Zaaap!_

"_Oooooooh!"_

"_Lights out……Sugar bear!'_

_Flash! Flash!_

_Ugggh—one of these days……..ooooh………._

Rogue withdraws her hand!

As Pietro with a parting _uuugh_ for good measure, feinted dead

away and went back to the floor with a crash that scattered debris

that had been kicked up in the scuffle!

"Betcha you say that to all the girls Honey!"

His head lolled to one side!

"Hey what about me", drawled Pete aka Zero-G with an impish grin

as he levitated back down to the shop floor again? He'd stuck Pietro's

feet to the floor like a magnet—Rogue had done the rest.

"Aw shucks sweetie", Rogue replied grinning as she placed her

glove back on, "You know I owe ya big time! Never coulda got him 'f you

hadn't _snatched the rug out from under em_ when you did!"

"Yeah well", says the boy with a shrug, "I do what I can!"

"Trust you fer that!"

"Uh-oh!"

"Now what?"

"Over in the park! Nighty's in trouble!"

And for sure Night Crawler was in a rather distressing situation!

In his eagerness to aid Shadow Cat he'd ported accidentally right into

Blob's hand. And having it wrapped round his throat wasn't the most

pleasant experience he could think of! Pinned, breathless, unable to

summon enough concentration to jump himself free he hung like a limp doll

within the big man's grasp!

Rogue and Z-G after exchanging glances were in motion in an

instant as with a grimace Rogue removed her glove once more and said:

"Looks like I'm about ta feel really big and stupid 'f ya know what I

mean!"

_"Ugh"_, groaned Z-G, "Better you than me!"

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Cackling maliciously, Hot-streak drove back the X-Men and scattered them from before him! A flooding down pour of flame hotter than a blast furnace spirals from above like coils and heat seekers that hit with the force of battering rams! Cars went up in blossoms of fire and smoke, poles and power lines sizzled and crackled under the Elemental's power—sending a black out wave across block after block of city blanketing Soho and the surrounding streets in darkness as the sun sank lower in the horizon!

Mystique—going hand to hand with Wolverine—exulted in her victory! At last—she had assembled a team of Mutants worthy of challenging Charles Xavier's—perhaps even better! They were certainly proving themselves a worthy foe! Soon the Brotherhood of Mutants would be more than a match for Xavier's wimps!

_And they called themselves X-Men!_

Already Cyclops lay somewhere in an unconscious heap along with Spyke, Berserker, and Ice Man! Berserker in his eagerness to nail Pietro had zapped Cyclops and had in turn been nailed by one of Ice Man's artic blast whenever he'd aimed at Quick Silver and missed, after which Pietro had settled him—_pathetic!_

Now if they could just take out the others—Phoenix, Zero G, the new Mutants Electros and Brainac—not to mention this maniac she was having to keep at bay, everything would be going according to plan!

The Brotherhood sallied forth—power pouring forth from their united assault!

The X-Men gave way before them and fell back!

Now to the untrained observer, Wolverine might seem nothing more than a mindless creature of rage but there was purpose in that brain of his that few people other than Xavier understood! He could be a formidable strategist whenever he took a notion and apparently a good actor! He'd taken quite a thrashing from Mystique and really seemed to be reeling from the effects of it! But Mystique wasn't fooled by the act!

He backed away from her—retreated when she attacked but it was for the sole purpose of getting her to follow in order to angle the tide of the struggle away from the more heavily populated Square to inside the park which had cleared of patrons almost the instant the clash started.

Mystique let him get away with it—_this time_—because for once it coincided with her own purpose.

He'd fallen back, she came after him!

She had to in order to keep near him—in order for her plan to work!

Inside the Park Wolverine turned to close with her and Mystique comes to meet him! Hands shooting out impossibly fast she countered every move—taking care to keep those claws at bay! She dodged left then right as she backed away from them and then turning quickly about she blocks another incoming strike! Then she came in with him back to back, delivered a sharp elbow—a shot to the rib cage that pulled a grunt from him and then whirled round completing the circle with a round house kick that sent the Feral flying hard into a park bench which collapses under the impact!

She darted after him!

But now that they had moved away from the Square the tide of the battle began gradually to shift! Mystique grimaced as Jean suddenly went air borne and delivered a TK blast that drove Hot Streak out of the sky! Her telepathy temporarily disengaged his thoughts from his flames and he instantly lost the power of locomotion that had kept him aloft and plunged downward! He hit the ground in a bone wrenching jolt and slide! Then Shadow Cat, who'd been watching for just such an opportunity, loomed up suddenly from underneath the ground and dragged him down!

Mystique flinched with anger!

But she restrained herself from interfering!

She couldn't—not if her plans were to work!

She had to get Wolverine close enough to Rogue in order to execute her scheme…………………..and it had to look like an accident!

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It all happened so quickly it was as the work of an instant—of a flash of time!

And it had happened almost immediately after Night Crawler had been snatched from his tender mercies! Blob had been so busy trying to shake—_with a good deal of satisfaction_—the life out of the Teleporter he never saw it coming until it was too late!

He shook—Kurt gasped for breath—and he shook some more! And while to Kurt it was probably the single most terrible experience he'd ever had, to Blob it was a famous piece of good fun and he rattled him back and forth so hard his teeth clanged together inside his head!

Pinned, breathless—it was all Nighty could do to remain conscious—let alone summon the concentration to _jump_—as Blob with a malicious snort gave him a shake and a squeeze for good measure!

Delighted to have an X-Man about the throat he never noticed that beneath him the earth's gravitational pull suddenly shifted so much so that when he went to give Kurt another good shake—he couldn't!

"_Wha--_

He tried again—no good!

"_What the--_

And then he couldn't move at all!

Zero-G's mutant ability enabled him to manipulate the gravity in any given area and whenever he focused on multiple objects his maneuvering could be almost as effective as Jean's telekinesis. He could erase gravity at will causing a person's feet to fly right out from under him, creating the sensation of weightlessness that exists in outer space or he could do the opposite: He could make a ninety-eight pound man move like he weighed five hundred. Under Xavier's training his range was beginning to increase; however, for the present his power was limited to the here and the now.

His knowledge of earth's gravity and what could be done with it gave him enough understanding into the nature of Blob's power to know that the big man was somehow able to tap into earth's gravity in order to root himself like a tree to the ground—thus his name _the immoveable_.

Which is exactly what Z-G was hoping he would do!

And when he did it he merely amplified the intensity!

Even for a man of his tonnage Freddy Dukes' movements came with surprising rapidity and momentum. Whenever he massed himself on the other hand he could stop moving objects four times his size—but this came with a price: His movements were greatly hampered by the sudden shift in mass!

But then Z-G didn't want him move!

Rogue certainly didn't.

Of course she could have caught him easily—she had Pietro's power and Lance's for that matter. But for a big man Blob could move with surprising speed and was an astonishing jumper and could leap away without warning in order to dodge any danger his bulk couldn't handle! Even using the powers she'd just borrowed she'd probably still have to end up grappling with the big brute hand to hand before she could bring him down! She'd save that for when she had no other choice, but for now this was by far less troublesome.

He tried to move away—and nothing happened!

And now that he couldn't Shadow Cat was able to phase quickly up from the ground, pull Night Crawler—who was pretty much out cold—free of his grasp, cutting up all his enjoyment and making him madder by the second!

It was when he tried moving again that the comprehension of what was happening gradually darted across him!

"_What??"_

He glared up at Zero-G and immediately tried breaking the hold the boy had established over his body! But try as he might his body refused to comply! He might be _the immovable_ but at this moment his reputation—not to mention his power were both working against him!

When that didn't work he tried a little blasphemy mingled with threats that ranged from doing something to body cavities to something about every bone in Zero-G's body once he got his hands on him or something like that! Needless to say Z-G was unimpressed and kept on ramping up the gravity beneath him, increasing its strength and density so that his fury knew no bounds!

Then—he saw Rogue!

Now there were few things—_precious few_—that could succeed in frightening _the immovable_. But among the select few Rogue's touch ranked top of the list! He could stop a car moving at top speed, a tractor trailer—even a train come to that without breaking a sweat.

With few exceptions he was one of the toughest Mutants in the whole of New York—no physical punishment that he wasn't prepared to take. But there was absolutely nothing that could steel him against the effects of Rogue's power whenever she touched him!

But ironically the worst part wasn't the actual experience itself (and that was bad)! It was the memories of it afterwards! Patients in surgery who've accidentally woke before the procedure was done could possibly speak of feeling _less _agony!

_His whole world went white in an instant! _


	2. Chapter 6

To Save a Rogue

To Save a Rogue

By:

C.D. Lamarr

April 10, 2008

Chapter 1

"_You want me to do what??"_

"It's the only way Raven!"

Raven Darkholme—or the shape shifting Mutant known as Mystique—regards the Telepath sitting across from her in unrestrained wonder.

"Why are you asking this of me Irene?"

"Because only you have the power to do it!"

"Do you have any idea what you're asking me to do? Do you know what that girl is capable of?"

"Rogue's mutant powers", Irene pleads, "Are about to evolve! She's about to experience a power surge like no other Mutant! Without help—without intervention the process—could kill her!"

The shape shifter's yellow eyes narrow dangerously.

"What about Xavier", she snaps?

"Not enough!"

_"Charles Xavier_—_not enough??_ What have you been drinking?? Of course he's--

"Not enough", Irene interrupts!

"Charles Xavier is perhaps the most powerful Cerebral in--

Irene Danvers shakes her head tersely.

"I know what Charles is capable of and I'm telling you it won't be enough! If Marie is to survive this transformation it will require both your powers—your power to protect her vital organs during the shift, the professor's to protect her mind and to prevent her going mad during the process and the power of one more!"

Mystique looks aghast!

"What one more? Come on out with it!"

"She'll need to imprint the Wolverine's healing factor to repair any damage that occurs!"

Mystique's eyes go wide!

_"Wolverine", she gasps, "Are you crazy!"_

"It will take all three of you to save her. Your powers working together will be the key to Rogue's survival!

"Do you actually think", grates the shape shifter, "That Xavier—let alone Wolverine would agree to work along with me—even under these circumstance?"

"Raven--

"It won't do Irene! They'll never agree to it!"

"Then", rejoins Irene flatly, "Marie—will die."

Mystique is silenced.

She drops her head meditatively exhaling sharply. Rogue has long been an object of interest to Mystique. Long ago she'd seen the girl's potential—a staggering array of uncharted, untapped mutant abilities! She wanted all that power for herself! This is why she had adopted Rogue in the first place when she was four years old and hid her in a back water of Mississippi.

Her powers of absorption—as Mystique herself could testify—were formidable! Mystique had foreseen that its development would eventually yield powers that would one day outstrip hers, Magneto's and even Xavier's! The ability to absorb and used the abilities of others would make her one of the most powerful Mutants on the planet—and Mystique wanted her in the camp of the Brotherhood of Mutants!

Such power—or the prospect of gaining control of it left Mystique feeling rather magnanimous upon the whole. The brutality of Rogue's power when she touched you—the burn of it as it tore through your Central Nervous System—like touching live wires and having their power burn through you like one of Storm's lightning bolts—she'd felt that too!

It would be a small sacrifice considering the reward!

And—she might have a little fun besides!

She always did like to get a rise out of the Wolverine!

Watching his temper explode—providing she could stay out of his reach that was the sticking point—would be some good sport! After months of inactivity she could use a little excitement just now!

But still she asks:

"And this is absolutely necessary?? I have to actually let her touch me??"

"It has to be done in the next few days—otherwise--

"Supposing I—were to do this", Mystique interrupts, "And I'm certainly not inclined to take so lethal a risk—in any event—how do you propose to get Xavier involved—and Wolverine?"

"Well--

"They'd never listen to me—so you can forget that!"

"Maybe not", says Irene with a smirk, "But—I'm sure they'll listen to……….

…………………….say………………..Juggernaut!"


End file.
